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Japan to press for firm UN Security Council response to North Korean missile launch

"North Korea’s launch was in breach of current UN Security Council resolutions," Japan's foreign minister said.

© Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

TOKYO, February 12. /TASS/. Japan will press for a "serious response" by the UN Security Council over Sunday’s missile launch by North Korea, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.

"North Korea’s launch was in breach of current UN Security Council resolutions," he said. "We are working to secure a firm response to these actions by the UN Security Council."

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North Korea launches ballistic missile toward Sea of Japan - agency

A similar statement was made by Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga earlier in the day. "This is a serious problem for the safety of flights and navigation in the region," he said, adding that the launch came in breach of UN Security Council resolutions. "North Korea’s continuous provocations are absolutely inadmissible. We express a resolute protest."

Kishida added that he instructed his ministry to step up information exchange and cooperation with colleagues from South Korea and the United States.

Japan gathered an emergency meeting of its National Security Council over the launch.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is currently on a visit to the United States, told the country’s diplomatic and security bodies to get ready for any possible developments.

According to a statement by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), an unidentified missile was launched around 1:55 Moscow time, from Banghyeon in North Korea’s Pyongan Province. According to latest estimates it flew about 500 kilometers before landing in the Sea of Japan, outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan.

South Korean military are currently trying to establish whether it was a Musudan intermediate-range missile that can strike targets at the distance of 2,500-4,000 kilometers.

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